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VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks left Monday for Phoenix and the start of a daunting four-game road trip, but left-winger David Booth was headed in a different direction, which seems consistent with his time as a Canuck.

The injury-prone forward was dispatched to the American Hockey League’s Utica Comets on a conditioning assignment. Booth, 28, hasn't played since Oct. 24 in New Jersey when he left the game after the first period.

Utica plays at home Tuesday against the Toronto Marlies and then has road games Thursday and Friday against the Lake Erie Monsters. A conditioning stint can last a maximum of two weeks.

The Canucks, meanwhile, will meet the Coyotes on Tuesday (6 p.m., Sportsnet Pacific, Team 1040), followed by a Thursday date in San Jose and then weekend outings in Los Angeles on Saturday and Anaheim on Sunday.

Booth's latest problem is believed to be groin related, which he all but admitted Monday before backtracking and saying it was “lower body.” Last season, he suffered a major groin injury on the first day of testing following the lockout. Then he shattered his ankle March 16 against Detroit. The ankle required surgery and Booth was lost for the season.

He appeared in just 12 games and scored one empty-net goal in the lockout-shortened campaign.

Booth also missed a portion of this year's training camp and most of the pre-season. He played the first 10 games of the regular season, was a healthy scratch Oct. 22 in Long Island — or perhaps it was unhealthy as it turns out — and then lasted just one period two days later against the Devils. He has one goal in 11 appearances.

“I was just making a couple of strides and I couldn't stride properly,” Booth explained when asked what happened in New Jersey. “I just want to be able to skate at 100 per cent. With my game, I need to be able to skate 100 per cent and feel 100 per cent and I wasn't able to do so. I didn't want to make things worse.

“It was a just a weird incident, that's all I can say,” he added. “I do feel like I am really being tested. You have to persevere through tough times like this and it's been really tough. But you know? I know there will be an end to it.”

Normally a player of Booth's seniority would just practise with the big club until ready to resume action. The conditioning assignment likely came as a surprise to him because, less than two hours earlier, he told reporters “I think I am close” and that playing on the Canucks' road trip was a “reasonable goal.”

The Canucks have lost just once with Booth out of the lineup so clearly they are making do in his absence. But head coach John Tortorella indicated that a healthy Booth would certainly be preferable to the one he's had at his disposal this season. Tortorella's bottom-four forwards heading into Phoenix are Darren Archibald, Tom Sestito, Jeremy Welsh and Zac Dalpe, hardly a murderer's row.

Asked if he was becoming frustrated with Booth's continuing health issues, Torts dipsy-doodled around the question.

“It is what it is with injuries,” he said. “There is no sense in getting frustrated. I've seen David play earlier in his career but I've kind of lost touch with him since he's been out west here. I know what he has in there and we certainly want to try to get to that as quickly as possible. Health is a big part of it. So we're going to try to go through the right steps and right process and get him back as a player because he's a really good player.”

Vancouver has rarely seen the good Booth, who has been through knee, groin and ankle injuries since being acquired Oct. 22, 2011 from the Florida Panthers. A one-time 30-goal scorer, he has 18 in a Vancouver uniform in 84 games (including playoffs).

He is being paid handsomely, $4.25 million, on a contract he signed with Florida and has one year remaining after this season. If he doesn't start to giddy-up, he could find himself a buyout candidate. His inability to remain in the lineup is reaching Sami Salo levels.

“It does get frustrating, it gets really frustrating,” Booth said. “Playing games is the only way you build confidence and start feeling good about yourself. I mean, you can feel as good as you want in practice but when you have another team out there throwing stuff at you, it's a little bit harder to react to that than just the guys in practice.

“I know I can be better. I know it's there. I really believe that. It's just a matter of staying healthy and getting my feet under me and getting the opportunity to play.”

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